S. No. 6 — No ban on recruitment/creation of posts
Department of Expenditure had vide letter dated 05.01.2017 informed that they had already delegated power to Ministry of Railways to create work-charged posts vide I.D. dated 17.07.2015.However,for creation of work-charged posts at the level of SAG and above, Ministry of Railways is to approach the Cabinet for approval. JS(Personnel), Department of Expenditure reiterated that there was no ban on creation of posts. Further, at present there is no ban on recruitment of posts already in existence.
The Staff-Side contended that the reality is otherwise. Because whenever a new service or train is introduced, it is not followed up with creation of posts. As a result, the operations are suffering and the employees are working beyond duty hours. It was stated that often a proposal for creation of posts is returned with the rider of matching savings. They requested that a direction should go from the Chairman of the Standing Committee that no new service should be introduced till new posts are created.
Staff-Side also stated that in the last National Council meeting, the Cabinet Secretary had stated that that there cannot be ban on creation of posts for meeting operational needs. Hence, after informing that no recruitment has taken place to meet the increased operational requirement of Ministry of Railways, they argued that if the power to introduce new trains is delegated to the Railway Board, the power to create posts and make recruitment should also be delegated to the Board.
After hearing them, Chairman observed that in so far as the item is concerned, Department of Expenditure have clarified that there is no ban on recruitment on posts. In so far as creation of posts in M/o Railways is concerned, the following delegation has been made:
i) For ‘Revenue’ Non-Gazetted posts, Railway is allowed to continue with the existing system being followed by them for creation of posts. For creation of ‘Revenue’ Gazetted posts, for the posts below SAG level, approval of Finance Minister will be required and for posts at the level of SAG and above, approval of Cabinet will be required.’
ii) For Work-charged’ posts, Ministry of Railways is allowed to continue with the existing procedure for creation of posts below SAG level. For creation of Work-charged’ posts at the level of SAG and above, Ministry of Railways is advised to approach the Cabinet for approval.
iii) For the purpose of final Cadre strength of the Railway Services, as was done in the last Cadre Review, 75% of the Work-charged’ posts may be added to arrive at the final strength.
The moot point is which type of case should come to Department of Expenditure for approval. As such the Ministry of Railways have been delegated the power to make recruitments or create posts. The item can therefore be closed as settled.
It was admitted that the recruitment processes is slow. However, Government has been making efforts to make it faster by introducing modern technology. On the concerns expressed by the Staff-Side on security related aspects, the representative of Ministry of Railways was asked to take note of them.
It was also directed that the Ministry of Railways be informed of the new points raised by the Staff Side in this matter.
{Action: M/o Railways, DoPT(JCA)}
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